Poland sees Kedzierzyn IPO in April-May

Reuters Staff

2 Min Read

WARSAW, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Poland intends to move ahead with its plans for the initial public offer of shares in chemical group Kedzierzyn, a management board member at the state privatisation vehicle told Reuters on Monday.

“Kedzierzyn had splendid results last year, it would be a shame not to use the opportunity to go through with the offer,” Wieslaw Skwarko of Nafta Polska agency, which oversees the oil and chemicals sectors, said in an interview.

“A window of opportunity will come in April-May,” he said, noting that audited results for the company will be ready by that time.

Kedzierzyn said earlier it aims for about 500 million zlotys ($142 million) from issuing about 30 percent of equity in new shares.

Skwarko said the agency was also determined to move ahead with further privatisations of listed companies Tarnow (ATTP.WA) and Ciech CECH.WA, but not at all costs.

“We are not going to disregard the market situation ... if the situation is really bad, absolutely hopeless, then we will abandon privatisation plans,” he said.

Poland wants to sell strategic stakes in Tarnow, Ciech, and unlisted Kedzierzyn to a single investor who would integrate them and finance further development.

The last IPO in the chemical sector -- Tarnow’s debut in April 2008 -- was rescued when state-controlled companies PGNiG PGNI.WA and Ciech CECH.WA bought 16.5 percent of the shares.

Since then, market sentiment has worsened as investors’ flight from emerging markets continued. Warsaw’s main WIG20 .WIG20 index has this year fallen by more than 14 percent, after shedding nearly half of its value in 2008. ($1=3.516 Zloty) (Reporting by Patryk Wasilewski and Pawel Bernat; Editing by Hans Peters)